Boss

How to review a movie so bad that you start wondering if the director has any friends? Didn't they watch it? Didn't they tell him it is not a neo-noir, it is just a very bad and boring artsy movie. I gave it a 6 stars for the sake of "first try" - Romania's pitiful first neo-noir movie. However, we may still compare it with a psychological thriller that gives the anxiety and anguish that a neo-noir movie should make you feel, Sergiu Nicolaescu's Ciuleandra. That was a well played, well directed and well written movie.

Boss gives a painful and incredibly unrealistical story, without a narrative, without a competent plot twist and with a nonsense ending.

Although the plot could have been more impressive, the actors deliver a really good performance. The "thriller" feeling is effectively conveyed to the audience through the music, color grading, and the plot itself. On the other hand, the movie lacks depth in some places. The action is quite slow and boring, and the dialogue is delivered in a manner reminiscent of a snail's pace, which feels entirely unrealistic. The camera movement is uninspired and generally static. It seems they just set up a camera on a tripod and adhere strictly to framing rules. I hope that Romanian movies will attain the fluidity and pacing of modern-day films, as it appears we are still trapped in the 1990s era of Romanian cinema.

Everybody talks like they had a stroke and their brain reverted to being 14 and listening to My Chemical Romance. From the soundtrack to the pace and the neon cinematography you can tell that the director tries to rip off NWR, so I guess he got done with the Coen brothers now.

Not a lot happens, but they really try to stretch the running time by having characters spew cringe purple prose and two words a minute. You can also smell the disgusting air of superiority with which the director paints a "social tapestry" of all the small people, people that speak with broken grammar, except when they burst into spontaneous Bukowski monologues.

Sucked balls.

The movie was looong. And felt looong. Characters either speak in elaborate metaphors or stare in the void to convey their inscrutable complexity and depth. Drama ensues again and again from people not checking their phones. Really? My days of trying to swallow this... stuff... are over.

In recent decades, Romanian cinematography has made great strides and has produced amazing films. Spoiler alert: this not one of them.

One thing going for the movie is that it manages to create a good atmosphere of suspense and omen. If only the atmosphere had a compelling story to wrap around - but alas, it doesn't. The story is pretty random and unremarkable.

Judging by the title and the fact that I was unfamiliar with the actor on the movie cover, I initially thought this was either a Hollywood or a British movie. However, the first scene instantly made me realize it's a Romanian film. Despite being quite disappointed about what I had missed in the past years, this movie truly stood out. The acting was very good, with flawless performances from every actor. I'm glad I watched it; I was immersed until the end without taking a break. The movie also reminded me somewhat of Guy Ritchie's style... there's always that 'lock, stock and two smoking barrels' element behind the curtain.